Naruto vs the Walkers
by Hollow Lives
Summary: Naruto finally has enough of Konoha and the Elemental Nations and decides to embark on a real adventure made possible thanks to his friend Kurama. How will Naruto adapt to a world that is on the brink of extinction? What allies will he make and what enemies will be created due to him being there? What Battle Lines are being drawn? Naruto/Smart/Coldish - 1st chapter is Hokage's POV.
1. Prologue

**Naruto vs the Walkers:**

 **A/N: Hey all, sorry about the massive break, I just lost interest to be honest and started to get more into reading fanfictions than I did writing them. My new buzz is currently coming from Naruto and the walking dead crossovers…**

 **I know right… a bit random but a real shame about the lack of them around – currently my favourites are 'A single flame in a dying world' by Felixecho and 'Two shinobis, a fox and the dead' by Flightorfight.**

 **Anyway, I thought I would give it a go and see if I could get everyone's favourite hero into the world of the walkers and Rick's group. I very highly recommend the two fanfics above as they are perfect for what I will be aiming to do. I have changed a few base plot points and abilities as I don't want Naruto being 'invincible' but I can tell you that he will still kick ass; he wouldn't be Naruto otherwise…**

 **Also, I'm really struggling for a title of the story if you have any ideas please leave any ideas in the reviews or PMs thank you again.**

 **Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto or Walking dead so I'm stuck doing weird crossovers between the two.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Prologue**

The Sandaime Hokage was currently reading over the report that had been filled in by Iruka not even 2 hours ago. It was a matter of village security and was very important to file and alert the villagers and council that everything was under control as  
soon as possible.

He didn't want to have to deal with the headless chickens running around screaming nonsense any longer than absolutely necessary. He may be the strongest shinobi in the Village hidden in the leaves but that meant little, according to the elder and civilian  
council at least, in the politics of the village.

He let out a disgruntled sigh, letting lose the soothing smoke that he had inhaled from his trusty pipe.

He just didn't understand how he was still losing power and authority in a village that was ran by him with the Fire Daimyo's blessing! He knew that trying to do anything with force would only make matters worse so that lead to the problem of trying to  
find a peaceful way of taking back his village from the vultures that were slowly circling above.

Anyway, that was a problem to think about later. He had more pressing issues to deal with; this report card being the first and foremost. The Third Hokage refocused himself again, having re-read the same line five times already whilst deep in thought.

He had got to the part where Mizuki had 'spilled the beans' about the Kyuubi to Naruto and inwardly winced realising that he was going to have to talk to Naruto about this. It didn't change the fact that Naruto was going to get a lecture anyway but now  
it seems a bit more depressing. And that in itself was depressing seeing as the conversation they were going to have was about an academy instructor revealing 'A' rank secrets and trying to kill one of their students.

' _Uhh, Mizuki was a promising shinobi… but it was painfully obvious to see he was jealous of Iruka. At least sending him to Ibiki was worth every single sheet of paperwork I had to do.'_ The Hokage thought darkly, he was going to enjoy going over  
the reports of the interrogations that one was going to go through over the next couple of weeks.

You don't survive three Shinobi Wars and the stress of sending thousands to their deaths without developing a certain dark humour. That wasn't to say that he found them funny at all but he did have an appreciation for pain to those that deserve it.

You may be wondering why he was so nonchalant about losing a good level Chunin and academy instructor seeing as the Village was still recovering from the devastation it had received from the Kyuubi even after 12 years had gone by.

The answer was simple to the aged Hokage; any sensei that would lie and use their own students for their own ends was no shinobi of his. They were much better suited in Ibiki's care than his…

"Mebuki can you please collect the paperwork for the extended interrogation of a certain prisoner please, I need to ensure that we get as much valuable information as possible from him before his trip to the Correctional Facility." The Third called out  
over the intercom. He leant back in his chair to have another drag of his pipe – it must be the job; he was never that petty when he was younger. Hell he thought he was more merciful in his old age and yet here he was letting Ibiki have complete assess  
to him…

' _hmm maybe Anko should get a crack as well_?'

Mebuki Anami was a pretty twenty-something year old secretary and had been patrolling and organising the workload that the poor Hokage had been getting recently. It was thanks to her that he was able to see his grandson and Naruto at all!

Well maybe that was a slight overreaction, but the Third was nonetheless very grateful to his thoughtful secretary.

' _I just need to keep Jiraiya away from this one…'_

She came in with a quick bow and wordlessly collected the sheets neatly stacked on his desk (having been completed and signed almost immediately after Mizuki had been reported and taken into custody) and left to copy them before sending them to the required  
people.

The Sandaime read through the rest of the report quickly and efficiently showing his experience with reading mission reports for over fifty years. He couldn't help but smile with pride at the part where Naruto learnt the Shadow clone jutsu in just two  
hours of practice. That took skill and a crap load of chakra. He had always been on Naruto's side and was prepared to be patient with him seeing as he could see the potential rolling off the orange-knucklehead.

This incident had only highlighted that there was a deeper intelligence and talent that Naruto had not shown him before. That thought alone nearly wiped the smile off his face until he read the next line of the report. Where his smile went into a full-blown  
grin when he saw that Naruto had gotten a field promotion from Iruka and was nearly an official shinobi of the leaf. He immediately signed it without a second thought.

About time the poor boy got away from those idiotic civilian council and even his fellow elders now that he thought about it.

Shit! He had just jinxed it…

As a royal middle finger from Fate, the door flew opened and his three _'dear'_ teammates came in looking like they owned the place as usual. Hiruzen was already not liking the smug look on their faces as they walked in without bowing, only nodding  
slightly in a small gesture of respect. Well at least Homura and Koharu did; whilst Danzo looked on without moving.

Why did he keep him around again?

He regretted sending Mebuki on paperwork duty but alas, he knew that she had no chance at stopping these three from entering here. She would be so far out of her element that it didn't bare thinking about.

He sighed and put up his best blank expression knowing that whatever they were here for was not good news. He would find out soon just how right he was.

"Hiruzen we have heard some disturbing news about ' _the boy_ ' that we cannot ignore." Started off Danzo with his clipped and stern tone of voice showing he wasn't going to back down from his stand on the matter.

' _Like you don't have multiple reports already of the incident'_ thought the Third sardonically. He never liked his teammate's tone of voice and lack of respect but he had always put up with it seeing as it was just less effort and less of a headache  
that way.

He knew he was just avoiding the issue but now was really not the time to bring up old arguments.

He took a deep calming breathe before replying,

"That 'boy,' as you call him, was not only tricked by his own Sensei but also leant a Jonin level 'B' rank Kinjutsu in under 3 hours of practice. He has received a field promotion for his efforts in the unofficial mission." He tried not to sound too proud  
of the boy but it was damn hard right now.

He was met with three very unimpressed looks and literally felt himself deflating… it would have been far too easy he assumed.

"Not only did the boy steal the scroll of sealing from under your noise Hiruzen, but he also had the nerve to open it and use it for his own ends… this cannot be overlooked!" Said Homura, speaking for the first time since entering the office. His face  
conveying nothing more than what he believed to be fact, pure and simple.

"I apologise Hiruzen but I must agree with Homura's point there -" started Koharu, not sounding sorry in the least. "The boy is clearly not able to be trusted to think for himself should the situation arise. He needs to be put into a better learning environment  
so that he can become a more suitable asset… for the village of course." Finished Koharu unable to keep the slight malicious undertones that entered her voice throughout the speech.

The Sandaime narrowed his eyes at the three fellow elders before him. He was quickly getting tired of their attitude but knew he had to tread carefully seeing as they all held significant political power themselves and all had friends in the right places.  
He decided to go straight for the blunt approach, he was too tired to go into the passive aggressive bullshit that made up the usual politics of this village.

"Well sorry to disappoint you, my dear teammates of mine, but as of 2 hours ago, Naruto Uzumaki was given a field promotion to Genin and has been approved by me. He is no longer under the control of the civilian and your council." Hiruzen said as casually  
as he could whilst showing them the signed and stamped field promotion certificate for one Naruto Uzumaki.

It was Danzo this time that took a step forward, leaning carefully on his cane, nothing showing on his face or in his voice as he spoke.

"That is not entirely correct Hiruzen, you see Law 50, article 2, paragraph 2 clearly shows that all field promotions outside of war, have to be analysed and gain more than 50 percent of votes at the council. I am surprised you did not know of this rather  
important law seeing as you signed it." It didn't take a Kage-level shinobi to hear the condescension leaking into the last sentence.

He held up the official document of the law and the large 'DENIED' stamp on the top of it. To the Hokage's horror he saw that he had indeed signed it without properly reading through and thinking of the possible consequences 12 and a half years ago; 3  
days after the Kyuubi attack. He cursed his underhanded teammates but knew that he had lost – if you weren't prepared to follow your own rules and regulations then how on earth could you expect your followers to do so.

He could see why they were doing this, they thought they were so clever, and yet he had always been able to get a good read on them. He had also wished that eventually they would have been able to change but the answer was quickly becoming clear for that  
particular outcome. In hindsight, the Uchiha Massacre should have been the last straw for that theory.

He knew already that the civilian council were all trying their very best to keep the 'demon' weak whilst his three foolish teammates were trying to get the boy and by extension his heritage under their thumb. The annoying thing was that in politics that  
was a solid plan of action and could easily lead them to gaining a massive amount of influence each if it was to work out. Of course, the Third would have to be a cold dead corpse before ever letting that happen!

The Hokage tilted his hat downwards not allowing his three fellow seniors to see his face before nodding once barely keeping the disgust from his face and voice as he spoke.

"Very well, Naruto will not have his rightfully deserved promotion, I also agree with you that it is time for Naruto to receive training in a 'better learning environment' as you so wisely pointed out-"

"Excellent, we were just thin-" interrupted Koharu, ignoring the thinly veiled contempt behind the words and desperately trying to push their agenda before losing this particular advantage in the matter.

However, the Third was having none of it and released a concentrated blast of killing intent at Koharu making her choke on her words before composing herself in the next instance. Of course, that split second was all the aged Hokage needed to continue  
what he was going to say without the hassle of worrying about anyone else interrupting him.

"As I was saying, Naruto will be under MY tutelage until the next academy graduation exam and-" This time the Hokage was cut off by something so much worse than his foolish teammates. The interruption came from the biggest blast of chakra that the village  
had felt in more than a decade. It was filled with so much...

' _Oh no… I know this chakra!'_

Hiruzen quickly turned to his window to see a massive beam of deep, crimson chakra making its way up into the darkening sky above. It was so large that he had no doubt you would be able to see it from miles around but that was the least of his problems  
at the moment. The only thought going through his mind currently was –

' _Please Naruto, please tell me the seal hasn't been broken.'_

He instantly regretted not talking to him earlier about what he had learnt but he had a job to do; he needed to lead his people against whatever may come out of that pillar of chakra. Taking off his Hokage clothing he quickly throw on his old battle armour  
whilst shouting to the ANBU and the three elders/teammates in front of him.

"Everyone prepare for battle! Possible level 10 security risk! Homura and Koharu you need to get Shikaku immediately and start organising the evacuation of civilians and defensive strategies against the Kyuubi. Danzo you're with me and the ANBU, I need  
you to go get every available Jonin and ANBU member and meet me 200 metres south-west of the pillar in a maximum of five minutes. I don't know how long we have; I know a few seals that may be able to seal it away but only temporarily."

All this was said rapidly and leaving no moments for anyone to give off their thoughts. They were orders and were to be carried out. You didn't survive and lead through 3 shinobi wars and a Bijuu attack without being able to sort out priorities. Questions  
were not a priority in the event of a possible Bijuu attack – he had learnt that the last time.

The three elders burst into action the second the Sandaime was finished, they may like to make life difficult but seeing as the Kyuubi destroyed half the village last time they were not going to hesitate this time and immediately began doing what was  
ordered. If they were still alive then they can enjoy telling Hiruzen that they were right and the Kyuubi should be passed over to them for proper training and conditioning.

After 12 and a half years the Kyuubi no Kitsune's chakra was once again felt throughout the entirety of Village hidden in the Leaves. However, despite the massive panic and carnage that ensued from the villager's terror it was to all to end in a massive  
anticlimactic ending when by the time the Hokage made it to the selected position along with 100 of his best men the pillar was already beginning to dissipate along with the feeling of dread that came along with it. Not even ten minutes later, the  
chakra had all but vanished completely showing nothing more than a crater of 15 meters in diameter where Naruto's building use to be.

The Elders were the only ones to voice their curiosity and fear about the matter.

"What the hell happen here?"

"Where's our Jinchuuriki?"

"He's just gone? Just like that, I don't even feel his chakra anymore?"

The Hokage however, stood quietly ignoring the confused murmurs and casual gossip of the shinobi around him, his only thoughts were to the now missing Naruto.

' _Naruto please be alright; I know you are not dead… otherwise the chakra output would have levelled the city three times over… please to any deity out their let the boy finally live in peace.'_

Ha! Fat chance.

* * *

 **And Cut.**

 **This is the prologue of the story and just so you guys know, next chapter and the following, will be entirely Naruto's storyline. I just wanted to have a nice way of leading into it, I personally thought it would change it up a little to start with the third Hokage before moving onto Naruto's POV in the next chapter at roughly the same time so you can all get the idea behind what happened.**

 **I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and sorry about the slow prologue it was mainly there to set the scene and build a bit of storyline into it as well. Don't worry to all those that want to see some action there is going to be plenty in the following chapters.**

 **But alas, I'm a little out of practice so please be nice…**

 **Any R &Rs are massively appreciated and thanks again for checking out the story. **

**Next chapter is Naruto's chapter and the world of the walking dead. Can't wait to see you guys there.**

 **Again just a reminder that any title ideas are greatly valued at this point. I may even take a few ideas and use then as chapter names as well if you want them to of course.**

 **Peace out,**

 **Hollow Lives.**


	2. Deals and Dimensional Travel?

**Naruto vs the Walkers:**

 **A/N: Hi again guys long time no see… here is the promised chapter of Naruto's perspective in what happened whilst the Hokage was dealing with his own problems.**

 **Thank you very much for the 667 views, 48 follows, 35 favourites and 7 reviews – not bad guys, much appreciated.**

 **Every chapter I will try to suggest a different fanfiction that you might enjoy; once you have finished this one first of course…**

 **This chapter is** _ **sponsored**_ **by** **'The Yellow Fang'** **by** **Policy** **and is a very interesting read; check it out if you have a spare moment.**

 **As for the title please do leave a review or pm on a suggestion for the title. I don't like the current one and will change it soon if you guys, or I, can come up with something better.**

 **Warning: large flashback in this chapter - in true Naruto fashion!**

 **Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto and The Walking Dead I would be so wealthy that I would pay someone else to write this fanfiction for me!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Old Friends, Deals and Dimensional Travel?**

Whilst the Hokage was dealing with the onslaught of paperwork and reading through the report of the earlier security disaster – he was still upset at being tricked by a 12-year-old academy student – Naruto was pacing up and down his apartment with a clear agitated and distressed expression adorning his usual beaming, whiskered face.

His mask was slipping.

You may think it was to do with finding out about the Kyuubi and being it's Jinchuuriki but it wasn't – oh no, Naruto had worked out who and what he was when he was 7, having pieced the puzzle together with the dates and relations he held within the village. The insistent whispering that followed him around the village helped a lot to…

Yeah… he knew everything that had happened that night and was honestly not upset with anyone but the masked man that ruined his life. He even didn't hold his father, Minato Namikaze, the FOURTH HOKAGE responsible for what happened to him seeing as thanks to him, he had such a great friend now.

Naruto still couldn't believe it that his best friend was none other than the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Or as he preferred being called, 'Kurama.'

Back when he was nothing more than a little 7-year-old brat he had worked it out and began to desperately try and find a way to contact it; knowing that it would be able to fill in the blanks that was still bugging his rather sharp mind.

The loneliness of his life was also a strong motivator!

Despite everything, Naruto had made it his mission to get in contact with the ancient fox seeing as the pieces of what happened that night didn't make any sense as he read through any and all scrolls containing information on the matter. He was using all his hidden intellect to try and sort out the many questions that plagued his mind.

For example, how the hell did a damn BIJUU suddenly appear in the middle of the village without being transported there somehow. In fact, he couldn't believe that no one else questioned it either?

He knew something was amiss and the easiest way to scratch that particular itch was to ask the Being that had been right in the thick of it, all those years ago. That doesn't mean to say that he wasn't terrified of it and what it could possibly do to him; but he had nothing to lose and his still child-like innocence made him hope that the being wouldn't be as bad as everyone said he was.

Naruto knew better than anyone that sometimes people get a rather unfair reputation from the gossip of the ignorant. It was a carefully weighted gamble but eventually loneliness won out in the end.

* * *

It took Naruto several attempts of mediation before he could properly relax his energetic and powerful chakra in order to get to his mindscape. It turns out the Yamanaka clan sometimes threw out old scrolls in order to replace them with newer copies.

Well Naruto had no problem using that to his advantage and made sure to collect them when he saw any. Unfortunately, it happened very rarely as they were mostly burnt once a suitable copy had been completed. The only exception was if the scroll contained no clan secrets and/or jutsus.

Naruto found that massively disappointing but still adapted and read through the scrolls with sharply focussed determination and eventually came across a rather helpful scroll containing the benefits of mediation and accessing your mindscape. Apparently it was standard practice for a shinobi to have regular psychological check-ups on the state of their mind.

He just figured that if he had a giant, ancient fox in his body then this so-called mindscape was the best place to start looking… he wasn't wrong!

Lucky guess.

So there Naruto was, at just 7 years of age, already trying to make contact with his Bijuu; connected to him since birth. He still remembered the meeting like it had happened only yesterday – it was a defining moment for the developing Naruto and was partly the reason why he decided to continue to hide most of his intelligence in the future as an easy way of protecting himself from the predators within and outside of Konoha.

He had met the Kyuubi in all his glory that day he had finally managed to get into his mindscape. He found that his inner sanctum was a picture-perfect representation of a neglected and lonely childhood. It was kind of sad to Naruto how exactly _normal_ his condition was!

It was on the first damn paragraph of the scroll describing any warning signs that a Yamanaka should look out for when visiting someone else's mindscape. It makes the environment and turnover of information a lot more volatile apparently…

A sewer of all things was what the mindscape was based on. The neglected childhood having a psychological effect on poor Naruto; by constantly giving off the idea that he was nothing but trash wanting to be removed from the village's presence.

What really bugged Naruto largely was more to do with the fact that having the Kyuubi didn't somehow make his development more interesting. What, no breathing fire or telekinesis?

What? Naruto may have advanced intelligence but he was still a 7-year-old boy with quite the creative imagination. He was always finding ways to become potentially stronger and more knowledgeable. Meeting an ancient beast made of chakra was something you didn't turn down unless you were a coward, in Naruto's book at least.

Naruto made his way through the sewer knowing instinctively where to go… like it written on the back of his hand. He had no idea why or how he knew but played it down to his instincts.

After all, this is his mind he was in.

He walked and walked and walked. He never thought about how much time it was taking; knowing full well that he was safe and secure in his bedroom of his apartment. The old man always ensured that he had top notch security around and in his apartment but he assumed everyone was privy to such care and security as well!

After what felt like hours, Naruto walked right into one of the largest rooms he had ever seen. The height of the place must even dwarf the Hokage mountain by some margin.

He marched straight in front of the massive caged area and that was where his first real friendship occurred.

* * *

 _Flashback – 5 years ago:_

" _ **Well, well, well. Hello there, little kit! I have long since awaited your arrival."**_ _Growled a voice in the darkness of the cage. It was kind of strange to Naruto hearing it for the first time. It already felt familiar to him in a subconscious type of way. The voice was quiet but yet still rippled the surrounding area with the pure power behind it._

 _Naruto, instinctively faced the large cage and purposely did not react to the 2 very large red eyes that appeared in the shadows of the cage. He stayed very still in the ankle level water that was on the floor; unsure whether to reply to the surprisingly gentle greeting that he had somehow gotten from the current strongest being in the world._

 _The Kyuubi eyed the little 7-year-old curiously as he watched the boy stand in shock over the appearance of his very large and imposing form._

 _Pretty soon the massive visage of the nine-tail fox was able to be seen within the confines of his cage. His fangs were nearly triple the size of the boy and yet the boy still didn't back down._

 _The Kyuubi couldn't help but be a little impressed seeing as his last contact with humans was in a village full of screaming people running away from him in all directions. It didn't really count the shinobi seeing as only 3 people that night had managed to cause any harm to him._

 _Two of them were now dead anyway._

" _ **Come now kit, we have much to discuss seeing as I have seen the treatment you have received from this village and the twisted beliefs that they hold for you and for me."**_ _He said, again with a strangely gentle voice despite its size and murderous reputation._

" _ **I will admit, at first I wanted to destroy you and this pitiful village when I was imprisoned inside of you. However, despite everything this village has thrown at you, you still stand up and take it head on. I confess that you are worthy of some interest, more so than any other meat-sack I have met in the last 1000 years."**_

 _Naruto finally awoke from his shock and stared at the gigantic fox that was watching him very carefully. Like it was assessing everything that he was and ever would be._

 _It was a little weird but then again the fox was sealed in his body so… hardly the most important thing to worry about right now._

 _It took a second for Naruto to regain his composure and remove the 'mask' that held the intelligent, sharp mind but also the loneliness and sadness beneath. He didn't want to upset the rather calm and collected being in front of him by sprouting insults and blame it._

 _No, that would be idiotic and suicide._

" _So you are the Kyuubi no Kitsune and have been sealed within me since my birth?" Asked Naruto quietly, already knowing the answer but seeing if the Kyuubi was 'all there' and understood the situation they were both in._

 _It was vital for them to understand the circumstances and reasons behind what has happened so they could move on and work together to gain the villager's approval. Well that was Naruto's hope at least._

 _You may wonder why the hell Naruto seems so calm and collected against such an imposing creature; but the truth was that his childlike innocence (what was left of it) meant that he could still see people, including 200 foot demons, without immediately judging them due to rumours or stereotypes._

 _It just so happened that Naruto very much doubted that what was told in the history books about October 10_ _th_ _was the full truth and was reserving judgement until now. It didn't hurt that the so called embodiment of chaos was very pleasantly greeting him without the death threats that the villagers so naturally offered him._

 _The Kyuubi lowered his head down onto his two front paws and rested them against the floor whilst he lay down to get more comfortable for the, no doubt, inevitable long conversation._

" _ **Yes I am the Kyuubi and have been sealed in your body since you were born into this plane of existence. However, I have a feeling you already knew this, seeing as your reaction to my presence did little to distract you."**_

 _Naruto had the decency to look a little embarrassed at being caught so easily but kept up his composure seeing as this was a great time to try and get more information from the Being that was there all those years ago when his life was 'sacrificed' for the greater good of the village._

" _Yes, Kyuubi-sama I knew already but wanted to check before confirming any theories that I had. If you would allow me; may I ask what happened that night that lead to our current situation?" Naruto squeaked as politely as he could; as he carefully enquired seeing as being respectful to the ancient fox is no doubt the best way of staying in its 'good books'._

" _ **That was wise of you to do; I can see the wisdom and intellect that you hold behind that mask of yours. You have much potential; it would be a shame to waste it…**_

 _ **As for what happened that led to us talking now… well that is something I shall tell you later but not before hearing an offer. However, before that I need to ask you a few questions about this village and the Elemental Nations."**_

" _Okay," Naruto replied slowly, unable to keep the slight disappointment but also curiosity from his voice. "If you have an offer what is it about?"_

" _ **The offer is adaptable to what your answers are to the questions I am about to ask you. I will only ask them if you are interested in the offer that I bring to you. You can back out at any time but it will be the only time I offer such a deal to the likes of you. Do you understand… Naruto Uzumaki?"**_

 _Naruto took a couple of seconds to think about the possibilities that this deal could have and ultimately knew that it was his best choice to learn and gain strength in the future._

 _With a quick but deliberate nod to the fox, his fate had been sealed._

" _I accept the questions that you will ask and promise on my life to answer them honestly."_

" _ **Very well kit, I will hold you to it.**_ _" The Kyuubi replied becoming more serious. It immediately put Naruto on guard realising the importance of these questions and answering them honestly but also well in the eyes of the Kyuubi._

" _ **First question is: what do you think of this village?**_ _"_

" _I… uh… want, to want, to believe in this place, but honestly I don't know if the villages will ever change their minds about me… I don't know if I could or even should try to change their minds seeing as I was always innocent of the crimes they accused me of."_

"… _ **Your answer is acceptable and honest young one, I see that you still hold hope for this village but your logical mind says otherwise… in that case allow me to move onto the second question – if you were to try, how would you hope to change these idiots?**_ _"_

 _Naruto stood quietly for a while thinking over the question before finally realising something important._

"… _Kyuubi-sama, I'm afraid I don't have the answer for that question. I also don't know if I will ever have that particular answer seeing as they have already judged me on my 'masked' personality."_

 _He stood there sadly, thinking that he messed up on the question and should have thought harder for an answer. He was to be surprised however when a large smile (or at least what Naruto thought was a smile) crossed over the fox's face before replying._

" _ **An interesting answer kit, if you had said a possible answer to that particular question then I would have called you an idealistic fool and thought of you as the low level idiots that you humans are so full of. The truth is kit, that from what I have seen from your race this will never change – they have and will fail every chance you give them.**_ _"_

 _He looked sharply at Naruto checking him for any anger or disagreement but found none. He inwardly nodded his head knowing that the boy was ready for his third and final question._

" _ **My last question then, seeing as you avoided a foolish answer in the previous question, is simply, if you had a choice, would you take a fresh start? Possibly even outside of the Elemental nations…**_ _"_

 _Even the Kyuubi, despite its powerful aura and voice, sounded a little bit hesitant about this particular question. Fortunately, Naruto was far too preoccupied to pick up on it._

 _This particular question, out of all of them, confused the little 7-year-old the most and it showed on his face. It was the first real time his composure broke and the confusion breaking through his serious demeanour. I mean, what the hell was that question? Why does someone even bring up such a topic?_

 _However, Naruto put out the burning questions rising up to the surface due to the random and bizarre question; in favour of concentrating on his answer:_

 _Part of him wanted to stay in Konoha and become a respected and beloved ninja; however, his brain couldn't help but find the appeal in a fresh start where no-one would know about him or his sacrifice. It was tempting and told the Kyuubi such in his response._

 _For 3 whole minutes, the Kyuubi sat completely still and silent, clearly going over his answers to the questions. Naruto stood quietly as well, not wanting to interrupt and ruin the possibility of a deal._

 _He may have absolutely no idea what the deal would/could contain but he decided to remain cautious to anything that was offered to him and what exactly his 'prisoner' got in return._

 _He was excited though despite himself; he had never received anything like this before, apart from the few times the Hokage had time to take him out for ramen. It was a whole new perspective for Naruto and he would be damned if he didn't at least listen to the deal._

 _Finally, after what felt like an eternity the Kyuubi spoke up._

" _ **I have decided that the deal, should you accept it, will be a space-time jutsu that only I know how to perform. In theory, it would rip a hole in the space-time continuum and give us a chance to move to a different dimension…"**_

 _The Kyuubi trailed off and sighed seeing the comical spirals in Naruto's eyes obviously implying confusion._

' _ **Oh yeah… a 7-year-old brat, no matter the intelligence, is still a 7-year-old brat.'**_ _Thought the millennium year old being before thinking of an easier way to convey his idea to the little boy._

" _ **(Sigh)… In simpler terms, I know an experimental jutsu that could move us away from the Elemental Nations and into another one. I am offering you a chance to agree to this chance of a new life seeing as any hesitation or doubt could potentially cause us to implode, or worse, face HIM!"**_

 _Naruto had to take a time out just so he could wrap his head around the bizarre and complicated situation he had found himself in._

 _When he first entered his mindscape he had no idea that this would be what he was going to be talking about with a giant 1000-year-old fox._

 _For example, he not only found himself in front of the Nine-tailed Fox; but it was not constantly trying to kill him and was in fact, in Naruto's point of view, trying to help in its own way. However, it begged the question:_

" _What do you have to gain from this deal, it seems too unbelievable to believe." Asked a suspicious and slightly nervous Naruto. It was now easy to see the cold and untrusting truth that was Naruto's personality._

 _Behind all those smiles and cheerful attitude was a very paranoid and untrusting individual. It was a personality that was directly made due to the villager's and ignorance._

 _The Kyuubi surprised him by snorting in amusement, apparently not noticing or caring about Naruto's untrusting and cold demeanour._

" _ **The truth of the matter is that, as it stands, I will cease to exist when you die in your pitiful mortal body."**_ _Growled the Kyuubi, showing the first signs of anger that immediately put on guard our favourite Jinchuuriki._

" _ **In other words mortal, thanks to this seal I am also pretty much mortal as well! By using this opportunity now we can move outside the influence of the Shinigami and therefore, whilst I will still be imprisoned inside of you, I will respawn in the world we end up in once you succumb to your mortal existence**_ _…_ _ **you get all that Uzumaki… because I am not repeating it again!"**_

 _Poor Naruto was once again stumped and speechless. He had his mouth opened wide in astonishment to the deal and realised that despite Kyuubi having his own motives on the deal, he had still gone out of his way to consider Naruto's feelings and worries about the agreement._

 _Despite his intelligence, it still took some wrapping his head around, until he could speak once more to the ancient Being. It was easy for Naruto to see now the vast difference in intelligence and experience that the immortal fox had compared to him._

 _Naruto, yet again, regained his composure – which is still impressive for a little boy facing down a demon – and replies to the Kyuubi:_

" _I…uh…I understand Kyuubi-sama, the deal would be mut-mutually useful for the both of us; although I still have some questions I want to know before accepting the deal." He ended up speaking much more confidently towards the end having struggled a little with the word 'mutually,' which he had learnt from an old worn-out dictionary a couple of days ago._

 _The Kyuubi even raised an eyebrow in amusement and slight respect at the sudden confidence boost that Naruto seemed to have when talking to him._

 _Not many others had the guts to do so to him._

 _It could of course, just have been due to the fact that he needed Naruto much more than vice versa. However, the Fox's pride would never allow him to admit that straight out._

 _And so for the next few hours, Naruto badgered the Kyuubi on every question that came to mind about the deal. This included finding out what happened that night and how the Shinigami was involved in the situation._

 _The Kyuubi found it particular funny that, even after everything they already had discussed he was still able to shock the little kit with the facts of the seal, deal and 'that night…'_

 _Naruto took the information in his stride but his expression did begin to turn cold and unforgiving when Kyuubi began to speak about the night of his birth and the appearance of the 'masked man.' Or as the Kyuubi so politely said '_ _ **That bastard Madara Uchiha!'**_

 _He has to admit that the revelation about Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki being his parents was not all that surprising but did show that the villagers were even bigger idiots than Naruto had first realised and that his 'Jiji', the Sandaime Hokage, was lying to him all this time._

 _It actually made the deal a lot more appealing to the young impressionable boy. Why waste your time fighting against fate when you can take fate out of the equation entirely?_

 _Naruto still cares deeply for his Jiji, but accepts that he is the Hokage and therefore has to think of that first and foremost before him. So, after much thought and worry, Naruto faces the Kyuubi once again having moved to a more secluded position to think about his options._

 _Even now he was still worried about the Kyuubi's possible ulterior motives and how they could affect him and the deal._

" _I think I'm ready to take the deal, I have already been sacrificed for this village once and saved their lives in the process; I think I get some time off… when do we lea-leave?" Naruto mused, almost smiling at end if not for a single tear drop that made its way down his face._

 _He was young and dealing with an impossible choice – could he be so selfish and leave his parents' village behind. It didn't feel right but he couldn't help the images of his life leading up to this point._

 _How he had been hated and neglected due to his sacrifice for the village; it made him feel that he didn't belong and perhaps they were right. He had done his job in ensuring that the village was safe, it was time for him to think about his own life and how he can be happy._

 _He quickly wipes the tear away before focussing on what the Kyuubi was now informing him on:_

" _ **... pleased you took the deal. Your reasons are your own no doubt but know this – a contract has been made between us now, in return to this contract I will ensure that you can survive until we can make the jutsu work. This means that you, little kit, will have to take my advice on some things concerning your life."**_

 _Naruto started to wonder if the Kyuubi was usually this big of a talker or if a century of imprisonment had caused him to become lonely as well?_

 _He comes to with a jolt, realising that he hadn't said anything yet to the Kyuubi concerning the deal and so he quickly agrees to the terms of the contract, promising not to betray his trust unless the same is done to him._

 _Naruto, by now was beginning to become mentally exhausted, having talked and listened for hours on end that even his impressive stamina and duration was beginning to falter. His concentration was still that of a child's; no matter how interesting and complicated the conversation was._

" _I thank you for all your advice, insights and secrets you have told me today but I have one final question to ask you?" Naruto asked whilst doing a small respectful bow – something he had never even done to his Jiji._

 _The Kyuubi just nodded its head slightly and waited for the question._

" _I thought we were going now, but from the way you told me it sounds more like you don't know how the jutsu works yet?" He carefully accuses from far across the caged area. He didn't want to piss it off… yet at least._

 _The ancient fox just sighed again loudly and said. "_ _ **You were listening when I said it was an experimental jutsu and hasn't ever been tried or tested by even the strongest of Beings. It will take a lot of trial and error before I am confident that we will not kill ourselves trying to cross over the dimensions or alert the 'old reaper' to our deal and contract. It will take some time but I will expect you to be ready at any point for when I manage to piece together the jutsu…"**_

 _And that was that. The fox, clearly not wanting to talk to Naruto anymore, started to shove Naruto out of the mindscape leaving only a mind-link in place so he can contact him outside of the mindscape after some long overdue sleep and rest for the both of them._

 _Naruto was especially quiet and withdrawn for the next couple of weeks following the huge revelations that he had learnt and/or accepted in a few short hours._

 _It took some time to get his 'old mask' back on but after he began to prank people it became easier to fake it and he took some satisfaction that it was an easy way of paying the Hokage back for all the lies he had fed Naruto over the years. Sure it was done with good intentions, Naruto had never questioned that, but he was a petty 7-year-old like most were… he was going to try and enjoy the time he had left in this village._

* * *

 **Flashback ended.**

It was a testimony to Naruto's skill with deception that he managed to so easily fool even the Sandaime Hokage on how his life was going. He explained that the tiredness that he always seemed to have was a factor of not being able to sleep and practicing with throwing kunai and shuriken.

It was only half true seeing as most of the time, he was in the seal talking to his friend, Kurama, about the jutsu that was going to get him out of this hell.

Yeah, unfortunately the villagers had made it very easy for Naruto to keep to his contract with Kurama seeing as they had not changed at all and had slowly began to ware down Naruto's hopes and dreams of staying in this place.

'Sometimes, when faced with overwhelming odds, there is no shame in simply retreating to live and fight another day.'

This was a quote from Minato to the squadron of Iwa ninjas just before they were massacred thanks to the 'Flying Thunder-God' technique.

It made Naruto feel better about his evitable retreat from this world but sadly even Naruto had a breaking point and that was the day of the graduation.

Naruto had actually really tried to pass this time but had failed due to the stupid clone technique; the Kyuubi had already supplied the knowledge of the Kage Bunshin jutsu, however, due to the fact that it was a forbidden jutsu, he couldn't use it without some major questions being asked.

It wasn't that Naruto particularly cared about graduating but it was his last chance to see whether or not the villagers would accept him if he showed them that he was going to be a protector of the village.

However, it seemed that it was never going to be have enough control over his abundant chakra to perform the damn clone jutsu. It was useless according to Kurama and Naruto was in full agreement but that didn't mean the sting of failure didn't hurt.

In fact, while Naruto was the dead-last, he was not use to failures. Everything that he got bad grades on was a just part of his mask and was actually at least acceptable in when serious.

A great example of this would have to be kenjutsu – whilst sword work was not taught massively at the academy there were induction lessons. Of course, Naruto was not allowed to take part due to 'low grades' but that didn't stop him from taking a couple of scrolls that contained various styles of kenjutsu and some techniques.

This was where Kurama really began to become a good mentor and friend to Naruto and began to help him train in secret as a way of dealing with the stress of basically lying to yourself and everyone else about who you really were.

Over the years, the bond between them began to open a little and they steadily began to trust each other and cooperate to a much better standard.

One such example was when Naruto received one of the first birthday presents he ever got AND it was from the Kyuubi! It was on his ninth birthday and was a pretty miserable day for the young Jinchuuriki. So the Kyuubi decided to cheer his container up by giving him the jutsu known as the Shadow clone jutsu.

Despite Naruto's young age it only took a few hours for him to perform it thanks to his huge chakra reserves but was given the strict instructions of not telling anyone about it. Naruto was too happy to care.

In return for the jutsu Naruto had said something that no one had ever told the great Being before…

'I don't blame you.'

It may seem irrelevant to anyone else but to the Kyuubi it showed that the little human that he so desperately wanted to be free of, was actually someone worth partnering with and trusting. And for that reason alone he let Naruto know his name.

Sure it took nearly 2 years of working together before Kurama was finally ready to share but still Naruto was overjoyed and immediately began calling him Kurama-kun at every opportunity.

He hated it a lot. But decided that it was better than Kurama-Jiji or Chan…

* * *

It took 5 years for the Kyuubi to finally finish the space time jutsu. That time was taken up with tireless hours of Kurama and Naruto both going through various hand signs, some of which had long since been extinct, and working on a trial and error routine. It took years and enough notes that it covered the entirety of the inside and outside of the caged area before results finally began to show.

Eventually, they began to see tiny little ripples in the air as they were going through the hand signs and took it as a good sign. They continued on for many weeks following the same pattern but while pumping a tiny amount of chakra into it.

They didn't want it blowing up or being noticeable to anyone close by. Thankfully, whilst inside the mindscape it was rather simple for Kurama to block any escape of chakra to the outside world.

After much blood, sweat and tears they had managed the impossible and had got a solid platform for the jutsu and was now waiting for the right time to perform it.

Kurama made it clear that Naruto was not ready to do it yet seeing as he still contained love and hope for the village, even if it was decaying as the days went by. It wasn't until the betrayal of Mizuki that Naruto's resolve finally managed to peak.

And this was the situation that our heroes found themselves in. Currently they were making last minute checks and observations about the jutsu and what to take with them.

* * *

" **Uzumaki! You are ready – you have finally seen what I have about how you humans are so ready to betray and kill for your own gains. You know that this village has nothing else to offer you so I will ask one final time. Are you ready for a new beginning?"**

Naruto looks up to his old mentor and friend and sighs in disappointment at his father's village, before speaking without any hesitation.

"Yes. I have spent 12 years of my life trying to change them for the better, it seems that fate will not allow it. I am ready for a new start Kurama-kun."

" **Good, though if it means anything to you, I am sorry that this village even now fails to realise the sacrifice you made for it. If I was you, I would have destroyed this place long ago but I guess that it what makes you so interesting."** Kurama said with a certain affectionate familiarity to it that brought a small smile to Naruto's face despite the rather terrifying implication of his words.

They moved onto other subjects such as what clothes and equipment to bring with them and the possible dangers of the jutsu that they were going to perform not even an hour or so in the future.

For clothes, Naruto had finally gotten rid of the disgusting orange jumpsuit and was now wearing black clothes with a grey cloak to cover and hide his body. It also meant that he could fit most of his equipment in the pockets or the holster around his waist. He brought a load of shuriken and kunai in case of emergencies and even had a 30cm double edged tanto inside its scabbard, attached to the holster.

All in all, he looked more deadly than he ever thought possible and thanked Kurama profusely who immediately waved it off with a quick dismissive grunt.

Only 10 minutes left before Kurama wanted to perform the jutsu.

* * *

Naruto was very nervous about the upcoming jutsu and it was made clear from his shaky temperament; however, he was not scared about leaving this place. Oh no, good riddance in his book – he knew that they didn't deserve the Kyuubi as a pet on a leash; him being the leash in this metaphor.

He was fine with moving on with his life.

Kurama had made it very clear that he couldn't control where they would end up except that it would be a version of earth and it would have roughly the same amount of living people as it did in the Elemental Nations.

The strangest thing about the jutsu though was that Kurama absolutely had to be contained within the seal for some reason for it to work properly. It made trusting his nine-tailed friend a lot easier this way as well.

Apparently it was due to the precision of the chakra needed for the jutsu rather than the amount needed. Ironically if the Kyuubi was released from the seal he wouldn't have as much control over his chakra as he does now. Control was by far the more important factor and is the reason that Naruto had to spend every night for the past half a decade on chakra control so that he would at least be able to keep up with Kurama when it came time to do the jutsu.

When Naruto asked what the hell that meant. Kurama had replied on how much control Naruto would have if half his chakra was sealed away into the Shinigami's stomach and then was trapped in a cage for 12 years only being able to access 50% of the remaining amount.

Naruto wisely left the sensitive topic alone…

The constant cooperation and work on the jutsu had steadily allowed Kurama to use more of his chakra despite the seal. It was coincidentally perfect for the jutsu to be used.

With just minutes left until they were scheduled to begin, Naruto went inside his mindscape to face his mentor one last time before activing the jutsu.

He made his way through the sewer quickly, already knowing that he had only a little bit of time left before they both would have to focus on the jutsu.

Once arriving to the cage he made his presence known and Kurama came into view from the dark cage – Naruto always wondered if that was something he did on purpose or not, just so he could be dramatic…

" **Ah kit, it is nearly time, I take it you have not changed your mind? Despite the dangers of the 'jutsu-seal' we have a much better chance out their than stuck in the clutches of this village or worse Madara Uchiha."** Over the years, Naruto had found out more about Madara and his crimes and hated the man because of it. He was the real reason why he was forced to leave his village of birth.

Naruto understood why Kurama would want to leave as well. By leaving he not only had a chance of freedom but also a chance to get away from the sharingan and its poisonious taint that it shares with everyone around it.

"No, I think it is time to face the fact that a new start, no matter what, would be better than this hell that we both live in. I want you to be happy Kurama-senpai and I also want a chance to be acknowledged and have some friends as well."

" **Senpai? Uh better than 'Kun' I guess."** Kurama said slightly pleased with the new name before continuing on a more depressing note. " **You do know kit, that I can't promise that the next world will be any different than this one and we will be extremely low on chakra once we have performed it. It will take you to the limits of your potential and then some. Do you have everything ready?"**

"Yes, I am completely ready and prepared for the next chapter Kurama-senpai, I have also been going over different languages that you said could be possible over different dimensions."

Ah yes, Naruto was very thankful about that; as it turns out Kurama could speak many different languages and had been teaching Naruto the basics of a few of the more common ones of old. They were not spoken anymore but also held basic letters and pronunciations to each other. It made it very easy for Naruto to pick up on them using his rather impressive learning curve; although it did take the threat of no more kenjutsu work for him to finally settle down and go over them in his free time.

Kurama was about to continue the conversation but then suddenly quieted down and told Naruto firmly.

" **It is time, leave the note to your Jiji on your bed, if everything goes right then we should leave quite silently and without any fuss. Although, that it is also reliant on the chakra suppressors you 'liberated' from the ninja stores over the years."**

Naruto only nodded finding a lump was stuck in his throat at the moment due to nerves. He had of course stuffed his apartment so full of suppressor seals that it looked vaguely like the mindscape he was currently in.

And with that they both nodded to each other one last time, not needing to say anything else to each other that hadn't already been said in the last couple of weeks leading up to this moment.

Naruto left the mindscape into the real world and waited for Kurama's signal to begin to go over the massive string of hand signs that they both needed to do in perfect synchronisation. They had practiced for years with the hand signs and now had the finished jutsu/seal hybrid that would allow them to both get their fresh start.

Just before Kurama gave the go ahead, Naruto left the scroll to Jiji, telling him not to worry about him, on his bed and started doing last minute checks that he had everything on him. This included his trusty tanto he had named 'Crimson Yellow' after his parents to symbolise that even after death they still protected him.

Before continuing on that slightly sad point, Kurama gave the signal and they both began the hand signs for the new beginning both of them were looking for.

* * *

 **That's a wrap for this chapter – next chapter we finally get to the good bit…**

 **Sorry about the much larger chapter than I usually do, but I just wanted to fit everything I needed to into this chapter – if you preferred it like this please do tell and I will see what I can do.**

 **As for the chapter itself, please tell me where any mistakes or continuity errors have been made so that I can correct them ASAP.**

 **As for Kurama's motivation on doing this jutsu I have decided to do five facts about my fanfic version of Kurama to help you understand his motivations and reasons behind the deal that he offered Naruto:**

 *** Firstly, he is terrified about being controlled again and is willing to try anything to stay out of being imprisoned again.**

 *** Also, seeing as he will die along with Naruto in this world, he had to take emergency action – it may seem boring to be immortal but once it is threatened you would be surprised on how quickly they would say otherwise. In other words, Kurama is more terrified of dying than most, seeing as he is only one part of a complete Being meaning that he wouldn't move on as it would be in the case of Naruto; he would actually cease to exist at all.**

 *** The Jutsu/seal hybrid they made had to be performed whilst Naruto was still quite young so his doubts and suspicions - that plagues everyone's emotions – would not attract Kurama's chakra any more than it already does. It would make the jutsu much harder on Kurama who will already be struggling to control the jutsu as it is.**

 *** He had to wait for Naruto to steel his resolve before performing the jutsu otherwise it wouldn't work. That is why he waited until an opportunity like the graduation fiasco to go so that Naruto would not hesitate at all before or especially during the technique.**

 *** The both of them do not have a conventional friendship that most people would constitute as friendship. This is because they both have very different ways of doing things and yet they worked together for years and managed to connect thanks to the common goal of moving on.**

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please leave a review on your way out… I am looking forward to making the third chapter as we will finally have some fight sequences with some walkers.**

 **Take care,**

 **Hollow Lives.**


	3. What the hell is this place?

**Naruto vs the Walkers:**

 **A/N: I have to admit that this story is great fun to write and the support from you guys is astonishing. I humbly thank you guys for the views, follows, favourites and of course reviews. They let me know that I am doing something right.**

 **Another huge thank you for the 2'082 views, 71 follows, 56 favourites and 16 reviews – words can't express how happy I am!**

 **This chapter is** _ **sponsored**_ **by** **'Genius Sensei'** **by** **AlexDnD** **. It is a fantastic read and is without a doubt one of my favourite fanfics on this site.**

 **I still have not thought of a possible title yet so please do leave a review or pm on a suggestion for the title!**

 **Until then though, please enjoy the next instalment of NvW.**

 **Disclaimer: I wish I owned them but I don't; otherwise I would have added Lucille in the Naruto world as a badass weapon for Naruto to hit Danzo's face in…**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: What the hell is this place?**

"Urgh… what hit me?" Groaned a very confused and tired Naruto. He had just come to, and the first thing that struck him was the hot sun on his face.

…He opened his eyes wide in shock before brutally closing them again die to the sun's brightness burning holes in his corneas. He kept alert for any foul play though and stretched his protesting senses to max to do so.

It was the evening by the time Naruto had started to do the Jutsu with Kurama!

It was absolutely boiling where he was and judging by the sun's position – he caught a glimpse of it when he had opened his eyes – it was only early morning to midday. Naruto's heart skipped a beat at this. Another thing that pretty much guaranteed his conclusion, was the fact that he found himself outside judging by the rough, rocky ground he was currently wedged into.

Did the jutsu actually work?

He tried to move but found that he could barely move a limb, let alone the rest of him. He had never felt so unbelievably weak before… and he had been trained by the strongest demon alive!

Naruto just knew that something must have gone wrong. It was him after all, it seemed that fate was out to get him even when he had retreated from it...

He tried to get in contact with his only friend but could not, even his attempts to enter his own mindscape ended with a throbbing headache and no progress. Fate is a bitch alright…

The pain eventually got to a point where he was about to pass out again before he finally realised that something had happened to the seal. It was the only explanation of why he couldn't get into his own mindscape seeing as the two are directly linked.

It seemed that he was, for the time being, alone in the hole he had been crushed into. He had no way of contacting his friend and it looked like his mind was drawing blanks on what to do next as well.

So he settled for the basics, which was finding out where the hell he was and what had happened to him? It took many tries and pure stubbornness before Naruto finally managed to raise his head enough – despite the exhaustion that it brought to his already tired form – to check out his condition and the situation he currently found himself in. Thankfully, his eyes had adjusted to the harsh brightness of the day.

"Well… at least my badass clothes survived whatever the hell happened to me. Kurama-senpai will be pleased." Naruto said with a slight hint of sarcasm, he may be externally alright but his chakra was so low that he could barely feel it!

His clothes were actually in remarkably good condition – ignoring the heavy layer of dust and sweat saturated into them - partly due to luck and the other being that they were ninja clothing – essentially they are designed to survive through even low level jutsus without breaking apart.

As for talking out loud, he was not worried about being overheard seeing as his keen hearing told him that he was completely alone in the surrounding area.

He took a second to quickly push his head up again to have a look around the crater he found himself in. It was an odd sight to the still rather confused and vulnerable Naruto – the crater had 'dented' the floor in such a way that a protective barrier had risen around the edges of said crater. He came to the conclusion that he must have been there for a while judging by the layer of dust and rubble that was layered on top of him.

Now that he thought about it; the protective walls looked similar to Konoha's walls… he was completely safe from any animals or other threats whilst here in the crater.

He edged his hands slowly towards his weapons to see what condition they were in. However, he stopped… just realising what he had just said.

Konoha!

He once again went into shock at hearing the name. He didn't remember anything after the beginning the hand signs along with his friends. All he knew was that the jutsu worked but didn't at the same time. He needed to talk to Kurama again as soon as possible.

One thing was for certain though, he was not in Konoha anymore. The fact that he couldn't detect any chakra at all, even in the ground he was currently residing in, meant that the jutsu most likely had worked.

But… but this wasn't what was supposed to happen?

Kurama had told him many times over the years that when they performed the jutsu/seal hybrid; they would be in perfect condition if they needed to move quickly but in return would receive some crappy chakra exhaustion that would eventually mean they would both have to rest for a while.

"That was a side effect he got right then…" Naruto said grumpily, yet again feeling his sad excuse for reserves – he had less than Sakura!

It also didn't help that he didn't even have the strength to reach for the food or canteen in his pockets. His body was screaming for both of them.

He felt the exhaustion starting to hit him hard now and was struggling to remain awake. It would have been probably better for him to have at least eaten and drank something before giving into his fatigue; if nothing else, then for the fact that chakra is gained quicker when you have more nutrients in the body.

Ironically, it was Kurama that had taught Naruto that rather than the actual Academy Senseis he had over the years.

His eyelids started to feel heavy now and sighing once more in resignation he let himself drift off into an uneasy sleep. Hopefully, he would have a better idea of what to do when he comes to next. If that does not happen, then perhaps he would at least be able to move a little so he can get to the food waiting for him in his pockets.

He was out before he could fully understand what had happened and as a result, he was unaware of the slight snapping of twigs and soft sobs of a clearly out-of-breathe person nearby.

His world was about to get a whole lot more complicated…

* * *

She had been alone for days now; having found a house and slept in the closet for two of those days before having to leave due to a lack of food and drinkable water. The monsters had been too close by for her to take the pressure of risking another night there anyway.

Ever since leaving the house, she had been running away from those monsters with silent tears spilling down her dirt covered face. That was over 6 hours ago now, at the dawn of a new day.

A part of her knew that she was as good as dead without any help. She had no weapons, no experience and diminishing hope. She was just a little girl, completely lost in the great expanse of trees and foliage surrounding her.

She desperately missed her mum! She missed playing with Carl and the other children at the campsite. Hell, she even missed the little doll that she had been forced to abandon several days ago now by the river.

She wondered why no-one had found her yet. Do they care? Did they even realise that she was gone?

These were just some of the things that plagued the poor girl's terrified and irrational mind in her desperate struggle to stay alive.

All she knew was what Rick had told her to do and that was to run with the sun over her left shoulder until she got back to the motorway. This was exactly what she did. The poor little girl had come very close to death several times thanks to those creepy 'Walkers' as Rick and the group called them.

She stumbled and staggered along in the hopes of finding help, any help at this point… she kept running and evading any walkers she saw along the way. Her feet were bloody and blistered from the hours she had been running but paid it no heed. She had to keep moving, or die.

It certainly helped with the motivation but less so on the morale of the terrified little girl.

The breathing of the girl had long since became sharp, painful pants and gasps from her terrified run through the forest. She was becoming alarmingly close to needing some form of a break or collapsing from hunger. Each one was dangerous and potentially deadly in the world she now lived in.

The trees and foliage, obstructing the girl's forward scrambling, began to decline making the ground a lot smoother and easier to run across for the exhausted and hurting young girl. She had to find a place soon, any place that was out of the way from the several walkers she had no doubt was following her due to the rather clumsy and panicked running.

She pushed on and found herself in front of a bizarre sight in front of her. There was a literal crater in the middle of the forest? If she wasn't so panicked and terrified of stopping for even a second; she would have questioned the inexplicable occurrence that had appeared in front of her path.

No, the only thing that went through her tired and sleep-deprived head was how it looked almost fortified with the way the crater was 'walled' off to the outsiders.

She wanted in!

No matter what was inside of there; it couldn't be any worse than what was waiting for her in the forest surrounding her. At the very least, it would be a great place to rest and rediscover her path back to the motorway.

That was her childish hope talking, violently stamping out the mature voice saying of potential dangers and risk of investigating. She had no choice anyway, it was either get in the crater now or collapse with a bunch of hungry walkers following your tail.

So with that cheery thought in mind, she made her way over to the wall using what was left of her strength. It helped that she was an experienced tree climber and had often climbed the trees in her back garden before the world had turned to shit.

It took a while seeing as the wall seemed to have sprouted out of the ground like magic but eventually she managed to pull herself on top of the wall and sat to regain her breathe slightly.

She turned to the path she had just came from and sure enough, she saw the approaching walkers, eerily making their way closer and closer.

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, she sighed in relief, it was the first real time since being left alone that she felt safe from those monsters that had got so many of her friends and family.

They couldn't get to her now seeing as she was a full 7 feet off the ground and except from falling off, was almost completely safe from the outside walkers at this moment in time.

Now that she was comfortable on top of the wall, with her legs dangling over the sides facing inside of the crater, she had the chance to have a closer look at what on earth was inside such a weirdly placed hole in the ground.

At first glance, it looked completely empty until the little girl's eyes focussed and saw that she was not alone after all.

There in the very centre of the crater was a small body of a human. She had no idea how it – no definitely a 'he', she corrected, judging by the clothing and hair style – how _he_ got there and whether or not he had caused this destruction or not but… one thing stood out above all other questions, doubts and concerns to the girl at this point.

There was another living person here with her now!

She could clearly see the deep breathing of the unidentified person in question. A part of her couldn't believe he could sleep so soundly due to the walkers, the heat and the amount of cloths he seemed to have on. He must be slowly cooking with the dark clothes and heavy cloak he was wearing. She stood back up on her protesting legs and started to strain her eyes to get a better look at her fellow (living) human around 8-9 meters away from her position on top of the makeshift wall. Whilst the person was not all that far away from her, the sun's brightness and positon meant that she could only just make out the clothing and overall shape of the boy down below.

She peered closer at the young boy, only slightly stepping forward to do so; but in doing that, ended up stretching too far and falling down the inside of the wall. All she felt was her tired and bloody feet give up on her and then she was falling and rolling down to the centre of the crater.

A little scream of shock permeated the surrounding area but was quickly clamped out when the little girl used whatever survival instincts she had picked up over the last couple of days, and quickly held the spare hand over her mouth. The other hand, of course, was being used in a desperate attempt to protect herself while she was ungracefully making her way down the crater.

No point attracting any more attention than she had already done, thanks to the 'little' run through the forest earlier. Plus, she didn't know if the person was friendly yet. No point waking up a jerk… she had learnt that the hard way with her so-called dad.

She stared down at her sore and aching feet in frustration and harshly whispered:

"Urgh… you stupid, stupid feet! You couldn't have held on for two more minutes?" She said, not particularly expecting an answer from her now throbbing feet. She sighed tiredly while wiping her face clean of tears and as much dirt and sweat as possible with her arm.

After laying down for a second to recover her composure; she did a quick check over herself for any injuries or more bleeding apart from her feet. She couldn't do too much for her feet other than tying up her laces as tightly as possible for some form of compression. She didn't really understand how it worked but figured it had something to do with how bandages worked on other wounds.

As for her overall condition, she was still in a good enough state, with only a few added scratches and bruises on her petite form. Her clothes, consisting of a short-sleeve blue shirt and three-quarter length beige-coloured baggy jeans, were full of little tears and dirt where she had slept, ran and fallen thanks to her journey from Rick to the middle of this crater. However, her clothes were hardly the biggest problem for the 12-year-old girl.

Whilst looking over her rather depressing form, she couldn't help but start picking and brushing away any twigs and dirt that had clung to her clothes and hair during the run for her life.

It did not help that all her clothes were so caked in sweat, dirt and twigs that you could hardly tell the original colour of them anymore. However, it wouldn't have stopped her mum from doing something about it and it wouldn't stop her either.

After all, her mum had always told her that first impressions were important…

…Wait first impressions…

"Uhh… urgh…" a voice behind her groaned, making her jump in her current sitting/lying down position. She had almost forgotten the reason why she had fallen into the crater in the first place.

The 12-year-old twisted her body around, careful to not put any weight on her feet, to face her last hope of survival.

Her immediate reaction was a slight twinge of disappointment at the young boy currently wedged into the ground in front of her. He didn't look any older than her, maybe around 11-12 as far as she could tell.

If there was anything she had learnt in the new world that had replaced her safe and secure one, is that children didn't live very long on their own.

That wasn't to say that company of any sort was unwelcomed to the lonely, scared little girl.

She crawled over to the boy and thankfully he seemed to be perfectly healthy without so much as a scratch on his face, hands or neck. He was however, unconscious and seemed to be quite hot judging by the amount of sweat dripping down his face.

Now that she had gotten over her initial disappointment of no Prince Charming coming to her rescue, she had to admit the boy was quite cute; with his bright blonde hair, whiskered face and badass cloths. She had never seen such bizarre 'birth marks' or 'whiskers' on anyone but it kind of gave him a wilder persona than his clubby, young face would suggest.

As for the boy's 'badass clothing' - as she had called it – she was, quite honestly, stumped at the design and rather serious clothing he seemed to be wearing. What type of 12-year-old wore a large grey cloak, with a black shirt and bottoms on?

In fact, now taking a closer look, the little girl was a little surprised at how similar they were to what assassins would wear in those action films that her dad used to watch.

The girl had little idea of how to help the unconscious boy in front of her. She couldn't exactly walk right now, let alone carry him to safety. Then again, as far as she was aware, this could be the safest place out of the entire forest she found herself in.

Needing something to take her mind off the building pain in her feet and her overall lack of knowledge in helping the stranger, she started to carefully brush the dirt out of the boy's clothing, hair and face.

She was worried that he was overheating in that large cloak from the Georgian Spring weather.

She, without waking or disturbing the boy, carefully took him out of the slight dent that he was currently imbedded in, which then allowed her to take off his grey cloak. Underneath the cloak he wore a short sleeve black shirt, which clearly showed that the boy had done or been doing workouts judging by the callouses on his hands and the definition of his arm muscles.

Despite herself, she couldn't help but admire them but only in a sort of respectful way than anything else. Maybe she had Prince Charming's younger brother that could help rescue her?

It wasn't easy and took nearly 20 minutes just to take get him out of the ground without any sudden movements. By the time she had eventually taken off the boy's cloak it was well and truly the height of the day and they both had the sun pounding down on their small forms without much to protect themselves from the harsh sun rays of the Georgian Spring.

It made her feel extra thirsty and hungry but again decided to distract herself by a rather interesting discovery.

"What… or who is this boy?" She couldn't help but ask out loud due to the amount of weapons – or what she assumed was weapons of some kind – the boy had on him underneath the cloak.

And it was very true; the boy was armed to the teeth and she had to admit that she was slightly worried about how long this boy had managed to survive out here to obtain so many bizarre and dangerous looking weapons.

Now normally she wouldn't even dream of looking over anything without the person's expressed permission – her shy and respectful nature always dominating her attitude. However, in truth she was at that stage where the hunger and dehydration had meant that anything to preoccupy her mind was good enough.

Plus, she was rather curious about the weird weapons the boy had and was wondering if he would let her have one so that she could better protect herself against those out there trying to kill her…

It didn't take her long to justify and rationalise her decision with the small part of her brain that still said it was wrong. Before she knew it she was cautiously removing the holster containing all the weapons and setting it down before her.

She quickly looked over the boy to make sure he wasn't coming to – it would not look too good if a stranger was found going over all your stuff. Especially if they were all your dangerous weapons…

She was however, pleased to see that the boy's breathing had seemed to settle down now due to no longer being cooked alive due to his excessive clothing and the heat. He seemed to be completely out still and it didn't look like it would change anytime soon from what the girl could tell.

Turning back to the large selection of weapons in front of her, her attention was immediately drawn to the well-used scabbard of the sword or knife that the boy had on him. Whichever it was, it had been well used but very well cared for judging by the worn down scabbard but gleaming, sharp blade inside.

She couldn't help herself and unsheathed the full weapon entirely and had to admit that the blade looked fantastic. It wasn't much bigger than a machete that a few of the group had on them, but somehow, she could tell that this blade was so much more than meets the eye.

Her left hand went to gently feel the sharpness of both sides of the blade but before her hand could get even 4 inches close to the blade another hand grabbed it and pulled the weapon out of her other hand in one fluent movement.

She jumped a mile in the air whilst turning her head so quickly it felt that every muscle in her neck had been torn in half. It seemed that she was still jumpy and alert to sudden movements like when she was outside of the crater.

Having turned to the one responsible for the weapon snatch, she was met with the coldest, bluest eyes she had ever seen. They awed her as much as they terrified her – this apparent 'defenceless young boy' was definitely **alone** **by choice** rather than getting lost like her.

She quickly looked away embarrassed realising she had been caught going through his belongings.

'So much for a good first impression…' The girl thought sadly.

* * *

Whilst the girl was happily going through his belongings; Naruto had been coming to slowly only to become absolutely silent when he sensed the presence of another Being close by.

He had long since mastered silent breathing and sleeping which allows ninjas to better here for any disturbances even if they are unconscious/sleeping. It allows them to be on alert at a second's notice whilst their brains catch up to the real world.

He very slightly readied himself for a fight and brought his guard up whilst doing so. He vaguely noted that he no longer had his cloak or holster on and therefore had no weapons on him. He would have to remember to start putting a few spare kunai around his clothing in the case he finds himself in this situation again in the future.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes and using his already fading strength sat himself up to the ignorance of the person to his left hand side.

His eyes immediately moved to the person in question only to find that they were about to cut themselves on his tanto?

Without thinking he burst into action and within 2 seconds he had the dangerous weapon out of hands of the ignorant 'civilian'. Although in fairness, even in Konoha the civilians knew not to go round touching sharp and dangerous weapons.

Who would be dumb enough to do that?

His answer was clear, as a very startled and shocked little girl turned towards him and locked eyes with him. He could immediately tell looking into those scared brown eyes that she was desperate and needed help.

She wasn't a threat to him. His instincts told him so… but he still didn't lower his guard or 'Crimson Yellow' for even a second though.

Mid-way through their little staring contest, Naruto took the time to carefully look over the girl for any other threats (weapons – apart from his own) or genjutsu. He wasn't sure what power this world uses but he quickly came to his first conclusion.

Whatever it was, it is definitely not chakra based. He could tell from the absence of chakra in the air, ground and the girl to provide evidence to his theory.

Of course that did not mean that he would drop his guard at all; he had never done it anyway… Even in his own home his guard was always up for a possible strike – his instincts and senses where always on 'max setting' especially now in this new world/dimension he now found himself in.

After the initial analysis, he started to look at her more specifically and realised that: one, she was very dirty and tired, judging by the bags under her eyes and dirt that had smeared and caked all over her face, clothes and shoes. Two was that the girl was around his age, quite pretty and reminded him of a lot of Sakura in her physique and sharp brown eyes. Those same brown eyes seemed to sparkle with astuteness and hope despite the alarm and worry in her eyes he could clearly see that she needed him a lot more than the other way round. Finally, he noticed that she was injured; if the blood soaked socks and shoes were anything to go by…

He had to admit that he was slightly relieved to see that, after all, she had taken all his weapons off of him and he was still pretty weak judging by the amount of aching that took over his body. He ignored it easily enough… for now he had bigger issues to deal with.

As for the girl's injuries, well he is a glorified assassin, designed to take advantage of anything and everything to make it his advantage. He had to learn that one much earlier on than the others in his class.

He could barely move due to the hunger and chakra exhaustion – the power nap doing very little to change much of anything. If the mysterious girl had wanted to, she could have killed him quite easily when he was unconscious.

It seemed that his instincts were right again though, she was as harmless as he was right now.

It did not mean that he trusted her any more than he could throw her right now; and that wasn't much at the moment.

* * *

Naruto sighed deeply when the girl looked away from him, she was embarrassed and shy about getting caught. She reminded him so strongly of Sakura when she was younger, even down to the guiltiness of getting caught for something.

She had definitely not had the same upbringing as he did, he couldn't help but be slightly thankful for that…

Taking pity on the little girl before him, he decided to offer a conversation to calm the clearly still alarmed girl down a little.

"Hello there stranger-san, I am Naruto Uzumaki and who are you?" Naruto asked as politely as possible whilst still readying Crimson Yellow in his hand to attack if the girl made any sudden movements on his person.

He was unprepared though when she cutely and innocently tilts her head to the side in confusion at his question. He didn't understand why his question would confuse anyone but was quickly answered by her response.

"sdjv dkjvd Sophia, dsj fjvkdb jdvbs adjk?" Ah, a different language… great!

He obviously didn't understand what she was saying but did take away that her name seemed to be 'Sophia.'

He knew this was going to be embarrassing for both of them but he needed information on this new world and she was his best option right now.

So, with a little difficulty, he points to himself saying as clearly and slowly as he can: 'Na-ru-to' and then points to her saying in the same voice 'So-ph-ia.' It helped that it sounded like a name and he (again) likened it to the name Sakura.

At her encouraging nod, he relaxed a little – there was at least some hope for communication between the two.

He then points to his cloak and gestures it be brought over to him. Sophia looked at him puzzled for only a second before catching onto what he wanted. In reply, she quickly grabs the large grey cloak and returns it back to its rightful owner.

Without pausing to thank her, he quickly took out some ration bars and ripped off the wrappings before taking a huge bite out of the first one. He then looked over to Sophia and offered her a couple.

As on que, her stomach let out a massive grumble which was answer enough. She didn't even hesitate apart from saying what could only be a thank you.

And so they both ate what felt like a hundred of the rather foul tasting bars – they barely noticed due to the level of hunger they were both at – thankfully, Naruto had enough to feed himself for quite a while and it was the quickest way for her to start to open up to him.

It worked.

She started to talk mainly out of nervousness as she was clearly still a little uncomfortable with the silence of the two.

During the time of eating, Naruto also brought out the much appreciated canteen full of water and quickly took a few gulps of fresh clean water before handing it to Sophia.

As he listened, he began to notice something amazing. The more she talked the more he could begin to understand her speech patterns. Maybe not the actual words or their meanings, but after only 10 minutes he could tell certain words/phrases she liked to use more than others and as such began to build upon it.

It took a while, but he finally realised why the language was coming to him a lot easier than he imagined. Kurama had taught him various verbs and adjectives in a lot of different languages that he had come across over his centuries of existence. It was lucky that this was one of them.

So in order to pass the time, whilst eating and drinking there fill, he decided to play a game with her. Children liked playing games… right? He did not receive much of a childhood and certainly was never offered to play any games with.

The game was rather simple since he really didn't have much experience with them but she didn't seem to mind and enjoyed talking to him. All that it consisted of was him pointing to random things and Sophia calling out what they were called.

It included everything and anything, from cloak, to sky, to crater. After Sophia called out what it was, Naruto then had to reiterate what she had just said. A lot of the time ending with hilarious results; or at least according to Sophia's muffled laughter.

Of course, at first it went spectacularly wrong but over several hours his quick learning curve managed to pick up a lot of the words now spoken in the game. After that, they began to get a little cold due to the sun beginning to set. As a result, they both covered themselves over with the cloak – ensuring all the food and drink was put away beforehand - and continued to 'talk' to each other.

They were both starting to feel the adrenaline and nervous energy waring off at that stage and the game was beginning to become a bit harder to do.

He had managed to take a lot of the words and speech pattern together and was fairly confident that he could at least understand very simple sentences and grammar. He wasn't too sure about speaking the language yet but he was sure that his learning curve would at least make up some time when trying to learn the more advanced level of the language Sophia spoke.

And with that thought in mind, he drifted off to sleep but still held onto Crimson Yellow and a spare kunai. He only trusted one… he wouldn't make that two any time soon… not until he had talked to Kurama about it first.

* * *

 **Okay, that's the third instalment of Naruto vs the Walkers – Naruto has finally ended up in the Walking Dead Universe and is currently trying to communicate with little Sophia. What are they going do next?**

 **As for the ending, sorry it ended kind of abruptly – I didn't want to start a new scene now otherwise the chapter would go on forever…**

 **I felt that this chapter was perfect to end off here and next chapter we can focus mainly on walker action. Especially now that Sophia and Naruto have introduced each other and began to form some kind of communication and bond.**

 **As for their feelings towards the communication problem that will be looked into more closely at the start of the next chapter seeing as I can go into a little more detail then.**

 **Also, please let me know where any mistakes or continuity errors have been made so that I can correct them ASAP.**

 **Thank you all,**

 **Hollow Lives.**


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